Lincoln had been well chosen and equipped for her new
destination. She was a frigate of great speed, fitted with
high-pressure engines which admitted a pressure of seven atmospheres.
Under this the Abraham Lincoln attained the mean speed of nearly
eighteen knots and a third an hour--a considerable speed, but,
nevertheless, insufficient to grapple with this gigantic cetacean.

The interior arrangements of the frigate corresponded to its nautical
qualities. I was well satisfied with my cabin, which was in the after
part, opening upon the gunroom.

"We shall be well off here," said I to Conseil.

"As well, by your honour's leave, as a hermit-crab in the shell of a
whelk," said Conseil.

I left Conseil to stow our trunks conveniently away, and remounted the
poop in order to survey the preparations for departure.

At that moment Commander Farragut was ordering the last moorings to be
cast loose which held the Abraham Lincoln to the pier of Brooklyn. So
in a quarter of an hour, perhaps less, the frigate would have sailed
without me. I should have missed this extraordinary, supernatural, and
incredible expedition, the recital of which may well meet with some
suspicion.

But Commander Farragut would not lose a day nor an hour in scouring the
seas in which the animal had been sighted. He sent for the engineer.

"Is the steam full on?" asked he.

"Yes, sir," replied the engineer.

"Go ahead," cried Commander Farragut.

CHAPTER IV

NED LAND

Captain Farragut was a good seaman, worthy of the frigate he commanded.
His vessel and he were one. He was the soul of it. On the question of
the monster there was no doubt in his mind, and he would not allow the
existence of the animal to be disputed on board. He believed in it, as
certain good women believe in the leviathan--by faith, not by reason.
The monster did exist, and he had sworn to rid the seas of it. Either
Captain Farragut would kill the narwhal, or the narwhal would kill the
captain. There was no third course.

The officers on board shared the opinion of their chief. They were
ever chatting, discussing, and calculating the various chances of a
meeting, watching narrowly the vast surface of the ocean. More than
one took up his quarters voluntarily in the cross-trees, who would have
cursed such a berth under any other circumstances. As long as the sun
described its daily course, the rigging was crowded with sailors, whose
feet were burnt to such